Standing Tall
by delphinous
Summary: We all know that the dursleys feared magic. this is the story of what happens when they are afraid of magic enough to go against Dumbledore and leave harry on his own after hagrid finds them. will not follow cannon too closely.
1. prologue

Chapter: Prologue: Fear

Wow!

There were no words that Harry knew that were capable of encompassing his day. Today was the best birthday of his life after all.

Harry tried and failed to process everything he had learned today. 'my parents weren't drunkards, a wizard called Volde-something killed them and tried to kill me, I'm a WIZARD, magic's real, and I get to go to a magic school in 1 month.'

Harry curled up on the floor and slowly fell asleep clutching his wand as his thoughts wandered into sleep and dreams of magic.

* * *

Harry was awoken abruptly early the next morning when he heard a motor rev up. By the time harry had gotten to the window to look, all that he could see was the boat shrinking into the distance with three people in it.

In a panic, harry ran down to the shed behind the house on the tiny island, and too his disappointment he found the shed empty.

Trying his hardest not to cry, harry went back to the house and pulled a chair around to the window so that he could watch for them coming back.

'They just wanted to get back to land early, that's all. They'll come back for me. They will.'

Harry kept telling himself this for hours.

After 7 hours harry looked at his watch and realized that it was lunchtime. He went to the kitchen but found all of the food in the cupboard gone. Glancing around the kitchen again harry spotted a piece of paper taped to the table.

When he picked it up he read the two short lines on it with despair

'_DIE you freaky magic boy_'

the first read in the tall script Petunia wrote in.

'**Freaks don't deserve food**'

was the second and it was written in his uncles blocky penmanship.

Right then the tears became to much for harry to hold back. He collapsed face down on the floor and began to cry, though years of being kept in the cupboard had taught him to keep it quiet.

"They left me. I'm alone. I don't want to die.' Harry wailed in his head.

After a number of minutes of tears harry calmed a bit and stood up. Thinking about his relatives he decided 'If they won't take care of me then I'll do it myself. And I'll get to Hogwarts anyways."

With this determined goal in mind, harry began to search the house for food.


	2. Escape

Chapter: 1: Escape

With a sigh, Harry looked at the small pile that lay before him. In this pile were all of the items that harry had found in the house. He had everything that Hagrid had bought him in Diagon Alley the day before: apparently his relatives hadn't wanted to touch anything related to magic. He also had a small flashlight he'd found in a closet, the jacket the light was in, a small plastic shopping bag, three pounds, and a pair of trousers and some rope from the boat shed.

All together, harry had very little to work with. With another sigh harry glanced outside at the setting sun. The weather had improved today and it might be calm tomorrow. He hoped.

Having searched the house Harry had eaten the small candy bar he had found hidden in Dudley's room but he was still very hungry. He knew that he needed to get to land soon so that he could eat. Weather or not, he was leaving the island tomorrow.

With these thoughts harry slipped into an uneasy night's sleep in a full bed for the first time he could remember.

* * *

In the morning harry woke up to the wind howling. He hurried to the nearest window and saw to his dismay that a storm was starting up again. Harry knew that he would be too weak to try to swim if he waited for the storm to finish because sea storms can last for days or even weeks.

He dashed over to the pile and realized that he had no way to carry everything with him, and if he was going to try to swim in a storm he couldn't drag his trunk behind him, which had been his vague plan yesterday. He quickly got his clothing together and stuffed it all in a small bag he had. After some quick thinking he put in the flashlight, his Hogwarts letter, and his wand, tied it shut with the rope, and tied the rope around his waist.

He went over to Hedwig, and said, "I'm sorry I have to leave so soon, girl. Maybe you can find me again when I make it to Hogwarts? I hope so. If you can't find me, then I'm sure you'll enjoy being free."

And with that, Harry opened the cage door and let Hedwig fly away.

He looked longingly at his pile of books and robes, but eventually turned away and left the house.

After remembering which direction Harry had seen the boat go yesterday, harry climbed down the island on that side. He briefly remembered the one lesson he'd had in swimming, when his aunt told him, "_I'm only letting you learn to swim so that I won't have to deal with your dead body if you drown_".

With a deep breath Harry leapt off the rock he was on into the ocean. He sunk and almost forgot how to move his body. The water was COLD.

After a brief battle against his instinctive shock, Harry struggled to the surface. He turned towards where he thought land was and began kicking.

As soon as he got more than fifty feet away from the island Harry discovered why it was such a bad idea to go swimming during a storm. The waves were at least four feet high and Harry quickly lost all sense of direction as he was swirled and thrown about. The only good thing about the storm was that is seemed to be pushing him in the direction that he wanted to go originally.

After a while Harry learned how to swim with the waves and not be thrown about like a piece of driftwood. He began swimming again, although he no longer knew where to go, so he followed the waves.

About an hour into his swim Harry felt the rope slide off his waist. He turned around and just managed to catch the rope before he completely lost his bag. It took him another ten minutes to retie the bag while staying on the surface.

After another hour of so Harry was becoming desperately tired. He'd never been allowed to swim for more than a half an hour and that was only in a calm pool. Harry began to pray, 'please, I just want to get to land. Please help me find land'. Almost in response to his plea, Harry found that he knew to turn right and that he was close.

Harry was too tired to wonder how he knew where to go so he just turned and tried to swim in the direction he knew was right.

Just as Harry began to feel like he couldn't go on much longer, he saw a spire sticking up through the storm. With renewed hope harry swam towards the spire.

When he got close enough he saw that it was a ruin of a lighthouse, but he finally swam to the shore, and pulled himself out of the water.

Feeling his exhaustion, Harry just lay on the rocky soil at the waters edge. After some minutes he got a smile on his face and said, "I made it." He slowly got up and dragged his bag towards the lighthouse ruins.

Although he didn't see any signs of humans living here, Harry was glad that he had some shelter from the storm. So even though it was only just after midday (He guessed, his watch had died in the water) harry found a protected hollow in the ruins and immediately fell asleep.

* * *

When Harry next awoke he realized that even though he had slept for many hours he was still very tired and hungry. But more than anything else he was incredibly thirsty. He looked at the sky and saw that it was lightening, so dawn would be here soon. The storm was mostly just wind today, so harry started exploring.

He found an ancient well behind the lighthouse, but had no way to get down to it. Deciding that it was shallow enough, he tied off the rope (about 20 feet long or 7m) to the surviving post, and shimmied down the rope.

He was relieved to see that he was correct and that the last few feet of the rope dipped into a shallow pool of water. Harry immediately bent over in the ankle deep water and began drinking the water. It was dirty and stale, but it was better than seawater.

After drinking his fill, Harry climbed out of the well with the help of the rope.

By this time the sun had risen and Harry could see what looked to be a train through the brush that grew here. Since he was still very hungry, Harry followed the path. After walking for nearly an hour the path connected to a paved road. Apparently the path was a small hiking trail.

Having no idea where he was, Harry began walking down the road. When the Sun was almost directly overhead Harry climbed to the top of a hill and saw a small city. He quickly checked his bag, and finding the three pounds still in it, quickly walked towards the city's outskirts, knowing he would find a small restaurant of food stall in a city.

Then he could begin working on how to get to Hogwarts.

AN: Because cannon doesn't tell us where the island with the hut is, I chose the place it near Portsmouth because it is close enough for a few hours' drive but still a distance away from London.

I also made the hut slightly bigger, more like a small house than a hut. :) writers prerogative.


	3. Old Man

Chapter: 2: Old Man

Shortly after entering the city Harry found a McDonalds tucked between a clothing store and a gardening store.

He immediately entered and, after waiting in line, put the three pounds (about $5 USA) on the counter and got himself two burgers and a drink.

He pocketed his .42 pounds change and went to eat in a booth.

Just as he was finishing eating the manager walked over and asked, "Son, are your parents about?"

Harry got a depressed look on his face and answered "no sir, they're dead."

The manager continued, "So where are your guardians? Did you run away from home?"

Harry answered with venom "My guardians don't want me. They left me."

The manager was shocked and told Harry "I'm going to call the police and they'll take care of you."

As he walked away Harry panicked remembering what his uncle had said about the police.

* * *

**Flashback (Harry is 8)**

_Harry was being taken home by Vernon after he had escaped Dudley by 'climbing' (accidental magic) onto the schools roof._

_Vernon was in a towering rage "What the Hell do you think you were doing climbing onto the roof _BOY_. Are you trying to make Petunia and Me look bad by showing off you Freakiness? Do that again and I'll let the police take you!"_

_Harry was confused, "What are the police?"_

_Vernon grinned evilly, "The police are the upholders of the law. Their job is to protect us hardworking, taxpaying people, while keeping all the freaks in line and out of sight. Petunia and I are generous enough to not turn you over to them right now. Do you know what they would do to you_ BOY_?"_

_Harry looked scared, "no, what?"_

_Vernon chuckled, "they'd take you to a detention facility and try to beat the freakiness out of you. And if that failed they'd cut you up to see what your freakiness is. And that's just for climbing on Public property. I can't even describe what they'd do to you if you did something truly illegal, like told them lies about our family or tried to run away. Just remember _boy_, you're only safe as long as you're with us."_

**Flashback End**

* * *

Harry shuddered at the thought of the police finding him. He decided that he certainly didn't want to know what they would do to him if they found him. As soon as the manager was occupied Harry grabbed his bag, dashed for the door and was gone.

(Harry doesn't have enough experience to know that Vernon was lying about the police, yet)

* * *

It was growing late as Harry wandered through the city wondering how he would find food. He decided that he was tired when he walked past a small park. He immediately went to a secluded section and fell asleep.

He was awoken a few hours later by a bright light being shone into his eyes. He heard a gruff voice ask him "Hey, boy, What the Hell do you think you're doing in the park?"

Immediately thinking that the man was Vernon in his sleep shrouded mind, Harry stood up and ran away from the man as fast as he could. The man was surprised by the quick reaction, and by the time he had started running, Harry had disappeared around a corner.

Harry ran for a while, and he was quickly lost. Eventually he found himself in a dark alleyway that was relatively clean. He found a dry spot behind a trash bin and after calming down, was able to return to sleep.

* * *

When harry woke up He turned to his bag intending to see if his clothes were dry yet and found to his horror that the bag had been emptied during the night. Harry only had the rope, the jacket and clothes he was wearing, the torn bag, and his wand, which he kept tucked inside his jacket.

Harry just stared in horror as he realized that he now owned literally the clothes on his back, a stick, and twenty feet of rope. He tried hard, but the loss was too much for him. Harry began softly crying.

After having a good cry, Harry stood up, gathered up the now useless rope, and began walking.

He decided to find food then water this morning.

On second thought, a bathroom, then food and drink.

* * *

(5 days later)

The Old Man was leaning against a wall, resting as he had just found a slightly dented aluminum baseball bat, a good weapon in case he had to fight.

No sooner did he think this than a small urchin bolted around a corner and ran towards him screaming "please don't kill me, I didn't mean to," at the top of his lungs.

Two large men rounded the corner right after the urchin and ran right for the boy.

Now, the Old Man usually didn't get involved in street fights, but he'd always had a soft spot for children.

Pushing himself upright the man snagged the boys Jacket as he flew past, halting his progress and slamming him to the ground. The two men kept coming, with what the Old Man now saw was a knife and a box cutter out. Standing over the child, the Old Man hefted the baseball bat and stared down at the two attackers.

"Leave the child or I'll introduce you to this new bat of mine." He wheezed.

The two men just laughed and kept right on coming.

The Old Man said "so be it" and as soon as the first was in range he moved.

The bat smashed into the first attackers arm holding the knife before whirling into the second mans stomach. The second man was quickly smashed over the head, and then the first man received a blow to the face. Both men went down and stayed down.

The Old Man reached down, picked up the knife, and after examining it, put it in his pocket.

It was a high quality knife after all.

The man turned and advanced to where the child still lay. As soon as he bent over, the child lashed out: hitting him in the nuts. The Old Man immediately paled but instead of falling over simple grabbed the boy and put him in a headlock.

"That wasn't a very nice way to thank the man who just saved your skin" he gasped out.

After a few seconds to recover himself, the old man let go of the child and backed away. He finally got a good look at the child. It was a he, and he was far too thin. His bones were clearly visible and he looked like he hadn't eaten in a number of days. His black hair was matted and tangled, his clothes were overlarge and torn up, and he had a number of small bruises and cuts visible on his face and hands.

Thinking for a moment, the Old Man asked the boy "why is a child as young as you out on the streets, Hm?"

The boy looked down at his shoes and mumbled "I got abandoned."

The man looked again, and asked "you were just recently left alone, weren't you child? Do you have anybody to go to?"

The boy looked away and simply shook his head. He said "I've got no one who wants me."

The man looked sad and said "I suppose you have a reason for not going to the police too. It doesn't take long on these streets for people to resort to crime."

After thinking for a little bit more the Man held out his hand and said "My name is John Stuart."

After warily looking at the man's' hand, Harry tentatively took it and said "I'm Harry."

The man shook the child's, no, young man's hand and asked "would you like to learn how to survive being homeless, Harry?"

The young man's eyes lit up and he said "Yes, Thank you."

The Man turned the boy and pointed, and said "Let's get you something to eat."

The two walked out of the alleyway.

AN:

No, this is not a Harry finds some Japanese master of Martial Arts or some Muggle Loving wizard who just happens to be only one weight class below Dumbledore. John Stuart is just a homeless man who has compassion for children. You'll learn more about him next chapter, but he'll only affect Harry mentally. Harry won't be turning into some sort of Super!Harry with kung fu masteries and knowing 4 years of spells. At best Harry will learn how to escape grabs and how to throw a strait punch. Period.

AN2:

Did you really think a child, even one with accidental magic, could survive on the streets without help? Not easily. And Harry's fear of the Police is rational to him, though wrong. Vernon's just that much of a bastard. John just doesn't want to pry into why Harry doesn't go to them.


End file.
